The Changing Face of American Veterans

Memorial Day is
the day Americans set aside to honor all who have served in the military during
times of war and times of peace. We thank them all.

Many books have
been written and movies made about World Wars I and II, Korea, and even
Vietnam. But, what do we know about our post 9/11 Veterans? Who are they? Who
do we thank?

When the draft
ended in 1973, all branches of the armed services began the transition to the all-volunteer
military force we have today. Since that time, the makeup of the military has been
changing. While the total number of troops serving is declining, the force is
becoming more diverse racially, ethnically, and by gender.

The majority of
new recruits come from families with incomes between $38,345 – $80,912. Eighty
percent come from families with a history of service. Their father, uncle, or
grandfather also served. The share of the US population with military
experience is on the decline. Seven percent of the total US population served in
2016 down from eighteen percent in 1980.

Fifty
six percent of active duty personal are married, seven percent are in dual
military families and thirty nine percent have children. According to a study
conducted by the Rand Corporation since
2001, 2.77 million service members have served on 5.4 million deployments
across the world with soldiers from the Army accounting for the bulk of them.
Deployed personnel were under 30 years old on average, over half were
married and about half had children.

On
average military personnel sign on for four years of active duty plus four
years in the reserves. Deployment for service personnel is typically for a
period of 12 months followed by 12 months stateside. A post 9/11 service person
will very likely see a second deployment during their term of enlistment.
Career service members typically rotate 12 months deployed, 12 months home, 12
months deployed, 24 months home.

So, who
do we thank? We thank all service men and women. We thank the husbands, wives
and children of our service men and women. Post 9/11 military service is a
family job.